Ashley Nurse, one of the three West Indian debutants against Sri Lanka, was relieved to earn a debut and said he didn’t have anything to lose

Liam Brickhill in Harare16-Nov-2016

The road to recognition has been a long one for Ashley Nurse. The offspinning Barbadian made his List A debut nine years ago, played his maiden Twenty20 international more than five years ago, but has since played only three more T20Is – without taking a wicket. He had been included in three one-day international squads before finally making his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Harare. Now that the chance has come again, he has taken it, literally and figuratively, with both hands, picking up three wickets – the first of which was caught and bowled – to decisively turn this match in West Indies’ favour.”This is my third tour, but until now I’ve not got a game,” Nurse said. “I’ve been on the sidelines watching the guys win sometimes, watching the guys lose sometimes, and it can be a bit frustrating. I thank God for the opportunity and I’m glad I’ve taken the opportunity now.”The delivery and the dismissal that brought Nurse his maiden ODI wicket may have been soft, Upul Tharanga misreading the pace of a long-hop and swiping far too early into a pull, but Nurse’s celebration was anything but. “I guess you could say it all came down to me,” Nurse said. “All I was telling myself is ‘you have to hold on to this one’. It was nice to induce the chance and then take it myself. I did everything to get that wicket!”He had taken a much sharper chance off Jason Holder’s bowling earlier in the innings, holding a flashing edge off Kusal Mendis’ bat with two hands reverse cupped in front of his face at second slip. That was Holder’s second wicket, and with it Sri Lanka were reduced to a decidedly rickety 16 for 3 in a chase that, 15 minutes earlier, had seemed almost a formality after West Indies were bowled out for 227 in the 50th over.”It was not an ideal score, but once we got a few wickets with the new ball, we knew we could get the job done,” Nurse said. “We thought we were 20 runs short, but having said that, as a bowling unit you’ve got to go out and just try to defend anything that the batsmen give us to work with.”Nurse was one of three debutants in West Indies’ side for their first match of the tri-series, and the other two did not do too badly either. Shai Hope kept his side ticking along through the middle overs with a sedate 47, while Rovman Powell pressed the accelerator later on with a 29-ball 44 that included three crisp sixes.”For me, being a debutant you have nothing to lose. You just have to go out and give it your all. And I think all the guys had that attitude today. We’re a young team. We have nothing to lose, so we just go out and play fearless cricket. And congrats to the other guys; Shai batted really well, Rovman batted superbly as well. It was a really commendable performance from the guys.”The performance was certainly appreciated by a modest but boisterous Harare crowd that made no secret of their support for West Indies. The Bob Marley songs that played repeatedly over the P.A. system during the breaks must also have helped the visitors feel a little more at home. And at the end of the game, Nurse, Hope, Powell and Carlos Brathwaite jogged across the sun-drenched ground from the West Indies dressing room to Castle Corner, where fans were still gathered, to personally thank them for the support.”For sure, it was not a big crowd but we could hear them,” Nurse said. “After the game, the guys went over and basically just said ‘thank you’ to the spectators for the support. Can you guys [in the media] extend the thanks from all of us? I hope we get the same sort of support in Bulawayo.”West Indies will be buoyed by this win, having lost the ODIs against Pakistan 3-0 last month before their remarkable Test comeback. Wins like these will help this new-look side creep up the ICC rankings from their current ninth position.”Against Pakistan, we had a bit of a rough time in the one-day series, so it’s nice to bounce back here with a win,” Nurse said. “To get wins for West Indies is the main thing, whether we’re eighth or ninth in the rankings, if we win we can only go up from there. We don’t play cricket based on who’s in front of us or who’s ahead in the rankings. We just go out and play cricket, day after day, taking it one step at a time gaining those points that will push us up the rankings.”

Sri Lanka took under an hour on day five to wrap up a 2-0 series whitewash of Zimbabwe with a 257-run win

The Report by Shashank Kishore10-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRangana Herath finished with 19 wickets in the series•AFPIt took Sri Lanka a little over 50 minutes to wrap up proceedings on the final day in Harare. Resuming on 180 for 7, Zimbabwe folded for 233 to give Sri Lanka a 257-run win. Rangana Herath, in his first and perhaps last series as Sri Lanka captain – he was standing in for the injured Angelo Mathews – celebrated a 2-0 series win with his seventh ten-wicket haul in Tests. His match figures of 13 for 152 took his series tally to 19 wickets.Craig Ervine, who made a battling half-century on the fourth day, stood between Sri Lanka and an early finish. In the first six overs, he seemed keen on playing according to the merit of the ball. But the frustration of being unable to get runs – Zimbabwe had just one scoring shot in the first 23 minutes – resulted in him gloving an audacious reverse sweep from the rough off Herath to Dhananjaya de Silva at slip.Dhananjaya, who was initially moving to his right in anticipation of the sweep going a lot squarer, changed directions and dived low to complete an excellent two-handed catch. Ervine referred the decision, but it was eventually upheld as there was sufficient evidence of the ball brushing the glove before hitting his forearm. Off the first ball of his next over, Herath had Carl Mumba with an arm ball that drifted back in to trap him in front.Christopher Mpofu came out playing shots. A slog sweep over deep midwicket off Herath even had the dressing room in splits as he acknowledged the applause by raising his bat. He swung at everything thereafter, but the party did not last much longer as Herath’s slider came back in to beat his forward push and trap him lbw.This was Sri Lanka’s fifth successive Test win – they swept Australia 3-0 at home prior to this series – to equal their second-longest winning streak in Tests. Their longest is nine, which they achieved in 2000-2001.

كشفت تقارير صحفية أن نادي برشلونة يواجه مشكلة كبرى في إطار اهتمامه بالتعاقد مع المدير الفني لفريق برايتون، روبرتو دي زيربي، لخلافة تشافي هيرنانديز.

كان تشافي قد أعلن، في وقت سابق، أنه ينوي مغادرة صفوف برشلونة كمدرب للفريق نهاية الموسم الحالي.

اقرأ أيضًا.. سبورت: برشلونة يتخذ قرارًا صارمًا ضد داني ألفيس بعد حكم القضاء

وارتبط العديد من المدربين، منذ ذلك الوقت، بإمكانية خلافة تشافي في برشلونة بدءًا من الموسم المقبل، ومن ضمنهم دي زيربي.

وذكرت صحيفة “سبورت” الإسبانية أن وكيلي دي زيربي التقيا بالفعل المدير الرياضي لنادي برشلونة، ديكو، لبحث تلك الخطوة.

وأوضحت أنه بالرغم من ذلك، فإن هناك عقبة كبرى تقف في طريق تحقيق برشلونة رغبته في الظفر بخدمات دي زيربي.

وأشارت إلى أن تلك العقبة تتمثل في وجود شرط جزائي في عقد دي زيربي مع برايتون، يُقدر بـ15 مليون يورو.

وأكدت أن إدارة برشلونة لا تريد دفع أي مبالغ مالية للتعاقد مع مدرب جديد، لأن ذلك الأمر لن يؤدي إلا إلى تفاقم الأزمة المالية التي يعيشها النادي الكتالوني منذ فترة طويلة.

ووفقًا للصحيفة نفسها، فإنه بالرغم من أن دي زيربي ينال إعجاب شديد من قِبل مسؤولي برشلونة، إلا أنهم في الوقت نفسه لا يرغبون في دفع المبلغ المذكور سلفًا.

Australia’s selection chairman Rod Marsh has become the first notable figure to quit amidst the plummeting fortunes of the national team, forcing an extraordinary board meeting later on Wednesday to decide on his replacement.Marsh and fellow selectors Trevor Hohns and Mark Waugh met in Hobart during the course of Australia’s innings defeat to South Africa, before the 69-year-old passed on his decision to resign immediately to Cricket Australia. He had previously flagged his intention not to continue after his contract expires in June next year.”This is my own decision and no one within Cricket Australia has pressured me or even suggested that I should do this,” Marsh said. “Clearly, though, it is time for some fresh thinking, just as it is for our Test team to welcome some new faces as we build for the future.”I have always had the best interests of Australian cricket foremost in my heart, and that’s why I have made this decision.”I have thoroughly enjoyed the role and want to thank the coach, the staff, my co-selectors and all the players for their support and honesty over the past two and a half years. It was a thrill for me to be involved in many successes, including the World Cup win in 2015.”I wish the captain, coach and the team all the best going forward. We will be great again.”The CA chairman David Peever spoke of Marsh’s contribution to Australian cricket. “Rod has played a pivotal role during a time of change in Australian cricket, which has seen the team hold the top positions in both Test and one-day rankings as well as secure an ICC Cricket World Cup victory,” he said.”We understand this decision has not come easily for Rod and on behalf of Australian cricket we thank him for his leadership and the integrity and insight he brought to the role throughout his tenure as the national selector and the lifelong commitment he has given to our sport. Above all else, Rod is an outstanding person.”Having served Australia with distinction as a wicketkeeper before successfully helming the national academies of both Australia and England, Marsh joined the selection panel in 2011 following the release of the Argus review, and replaced John Inverarity as chairman in May 2014.His tenure featured home series wins over India, New Zealand and the West Indies plus the 2015 World Cup victory also at home. However the team also lost badly away from home to Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka, before the current humiliating results to South Africa that hastened his exit.Earlier on Wednesday, the CA chief executive James Sutherland had not given any indication of Marsh’s intention to quit. “Rod’s in the job and he’s doing clearly, like everyone else, they are doing the best job they can and working very hard at it,” Sutherland had said. “He will finish up, or he’s said that he’s going to finish up in June and we’ll make decisions about that and how we transition that in the future.”

Aston Villa could add to their summer spree in one of Unai Emery’s former talents, as a La Liga ace has been linked with a move to Villa Park.

Following the signing of Youri Tielemans, who will join the side officially on July 1st at the expiration of his Leicester City contract.

The Spaniard could bolster his attack further by signing the latest player linked to the club, as he aims to strengthen his side ahead of next season.

What’s the latest on Nicolas Jackson to Aston Villa?

As reported by GIVEMESPORT when speaking to Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor, Aston Villa are eyeing Villarreal gem Nicolas Jackson.

The forward is reportedly a player Emery ‘likes’ as per Taylor’s understanding. He almost made the switch to the Premier League in January, had he not failed a medical at Bournemouth.

It was reported by the Southern Daily Echo at the time that the fee was believed to be in the region of £20m.

What could Nicolas Jackson offer Aston Villa?

Hailed as “extraordinary” by manager Quique Setien, the forward has made his mark in La Liga this season after being promoted from the club’s academy by Emery himself.

In 26 league appearances, the Senegalese talent has contributed to a total of 16 goals, scoring 12 himself and assisting four in an explosive individual campaign, via FBref.

The versatile striker, who can play on either flank as well as central, could form a new dangerous partnership at Villa alongside incoming signing Tielemans, who has been lauded as a “phenomenon” for his ability in midfield.

In signing the Belgian, Emery has equipped his side with a new injection of creativity and progressive strengths in the middle of the park, as shown by his statistics in comparison to position rival Emi Buendia.

As per FBref, Tielemans averages 6.95 progressive passes per 90 to the Argentine's 5.15 per 90 over the past year, showing that he can distribute play in a positive light going forward.

This could benefit the likes of Jackson, who is a player that can make a move count in the final third, as shown by him ranking in the top 6% of forwards in Europe in terms of non-penalty goals, averaging a huge 0.68 per 90, via FBref.

Being a player that has strengths in producing key passes as per WhoScored, Tielemans is the ideal player to have playing behind a talent such as Jackson, who is a strong finisher and dribbler.

With an average of 6.59 progressive passes received per 90, the Senegalese ace enjoys getting on the end of through balls, signalling that Emery could get the best out of the young star in his free-flowing system at Villa.

Despite no official contact being reported yet, it’s clear that the Spaniard wants to get business done quickly and with the transfer window fast approaching, only time will tell if the rumours are to be believed.

Celtic are considering a move for Club Brugge assistant manager Rik de Mil, who is admired across Europe, according to a report from Football Scotland.

Who will replace Postecoglou at Celtic?

According to Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg, Celtic have held "talks" with former Borussia Monchengladbach boss Daniel Farke about the manager's job, with the German "ready to take over a new club" in the near future.

Ex-Leeds boss Jesse Marsch and Manchester City coach Enzo Maresca are also in the frame, as is former manager Brendan Rodgers, although sanctioning his return may be a contentious decision, given his decision to leave and join Leicester City.

The Hoops are also thought to be looking at some options from across the continent, with Red Bull Salzburg's Matthias Jaissle under consideration, while they could also make a move for AZ Alkmaar's Pascal Jansen.

According to a report from Football Scotland, De Mil is now on Celtic's radar, as their search for a new manager goes on, and the Club Brugge assistant is thought of as a serious prospect, who has a promising coaching career ahead of him.

The Belgian has been placed on a long list of potential targets, which indicates the Hoops' interest is not serious at this stage, but he is certainly one of the names under consideration.

It is detailed the 42-year-old has a great deal of admirers within Belgian football, as well as across Europe, and he has recently been linked with a number of other jobs.

Who is Rik de Mil?

The Club Brugge assistant took the reins as first-team manager at the back end of next season, overseeing 12 games in charge, during which time he averaged 1.58 points-per match, with his side eventually finishing fourth in the Belgian Pro League table.

That brief stint in charge was the first time the young manager has taken the reins of the first team since a stint with amateur side KSV Oostkamp nearly eight years ago, but he has impressed in his role with the Brugge youth team.

Lauded as "exemplary" by Ebe Verhaegen of the Belgian Football Association, the coach, who most commonly utilises a 4-2-3-1 formation, has risen through the ranks with Brugge, and he could be ready for his first role in management.

That said, De Mil's lack of experience would make him a very risky appointment for Celtic, and they may be better off appointing a manager who has already proven himself in a previous job.

Chittagong Vikings captain Tamim Iqbal said that he asked the local players in his team to perform as well as their overseas signings

Mohammad Isam08-Nov-2016

Chittagong Vikings captain Tamim Iqbal said that he had urged the local players in his side to step up and match the performances of their overseas signings, ahead of their 29-run win over defending champions Comilla Victorians in the BPL opener on Tuesday.”Before today’s match, I told our local players, although we have four or five big names, you cannot become their shadows,” Tamim said. “BPL is our tournament. Bangladesh doesn’t lose ten out of ten games anymore. The local players have to show that they are good cricketers. They have to express themselves. Every BPL, we find one or two Bangladeshi heroes, so I want one from our team this year.”Tamim made 54, and Jahurul Islam contributed 29 in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 60 with Shoaib Malik to steer Chittagong to 161 for 3 in 20 overs. Later, Abdur Razzak bowled four very good overs, but the rest of the work was done by Mohammad Nabi and Tymal Mills. Taskin Ahmed, who took one wicket and a catch, bowled a poor last over.Comilla’s situation was worse and they need their local batsmen to quickly step up to enable the inclusion of bowlers like Rashid Khan. “If we keep playing more overseas batsmen, we will have to play with a bowler short. Already, we haven’t found a place for Rashid Khan, so it won’t be possible for us to use more overseas batsmen. Our local players are capable, but they have to take more responsibilities in the field,” Comilla captain Mashrafe Mortaza said.Mashrafe further said that local batsmen will have to get used to fast bowlers like Mills, who shook the Comilla batsmen with his variations in pace. “Batsmen from our country aren’t quite accustomed to play the sort of pace generated by Tymal Mills, who is very quick. Still, it was a good experience for Shanto, who would have handled him better had there been more wickets in hand.”Mills’ slower deliveries are also quite effective, because everyone thinks about his pace.”Local players have dominated the batting and bowling charts in the last three editions of the tournament. In 2015, there were five local players among the top ten batsmen, with Imrul Kayes second, while Abu Hider was the second-highest wicket-taker. In the edition before that, in 2013, there were six locals among the top-ten batsmen, with Mushfiqur Rahim topping the run charts and Shamsur Rahman at third, and Enamul Haque jnr was third in the bowling charts. In the inaugural edition in 2012, Elias Sunny was the joint-highest wicket-taker with Mohammad Sami, but the batsmen didn’t fare too well.

Tottenham Hotspur may give Ivan Perisic another year at the club despite speculation over his future in N17, according to journalist Dean Jones.

What's the latest news involving Ivan Perisic?

According to Calciomercato, Perisic is said to want to return to his former club Inter Milan in the summer following a disappointing campaign for all involved at Tottenham.

The report states that the Croatia international wants to leave Spurs despite having a year left on his £180k-per-week contract at his current employers; however, Inter Milan may struggle to afford his hefty wages.

As per The Evening Standard, it is claimed that Perisic could be on his way out of Tottenham in the off-season alongside fellow teammate Ryan Sessegnon.

There is also uncertainty over the future of defensive trio Eric Dier, Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez, who may also benefit from a new challenge elsewhere.

In 2022/23, Perisic made 44 appearances in all competitions for Spurs, registering one goal and 12 assists in total, as per Transfermarkt.

Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist Jones thinks that Perisic may be kept around for another year at Tottenham despite the fact that he seemingly would be open to an exit.

Jones told FFC: "I'm not sure about Perisic, to be honest. I can see him hanging around. I think that sign a two-year deal, the first year definitely hasn't gone as we'd have expected, but that's because we were expecting Conte to be there all season and for things to probably go better than they did under him. But, I think there's a possibility he hangs around."

Should Tottenham Hotspur keep hold of Ivan Perisic?

Realistically, a lot will depend on who Tottenham turn to as their next manager and whether they see Perisic's experience as a valuable commodity to keep around in north London.

Right now, Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou is the leading candidate for the role and has been booked in for further talks with the club next week; nevertheless, ex-Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has also been internally discussed, as per Fabrizio Romano.

WhoScored notes that 34-year-old Perisic managed to record an average of 1.4 key passes per match in the Premier League across 2022/23, demonstrating his ability to play an important part in chance creation for the Lilywhites.

FBRef also take into account that the former Inter Milan star performed 87 progressive carries over the course of the campaign, illustrating his ability to be an offensive threat from either the right or left flank.

His versatility is also a plus point when reviewing whether Spurs will keep Perisic on going into next season; nevertheless, we will find out more in the next few months once the club announce who their permanent successor to Antonio Conte will be.

Mitchell Marsh’s hotly-debated LBW on the final day of the Perth Test was correctly tracked from its initial point of impact on the allrounder’s front toe, the custodians of EagleEye have confirmed.The decision, which was reversed from Aleem Dar’s initial verdict of not out due to the widening of the zone in which the stumps can be projected to hit by the ICC earlier this year, was openly questioned by a succession of television commentators and also Australia’s captain, Steven Smith, who said it was like Kagiso Rabada was bowling “leg-spin”.The former captain Michael Clarke stated on Channel Nine’s cricket coverage that he was certain the ball was going down the leg side. “I was certain that was missing the stumps,” Clarke said. “When you look at that replay, I thought it was definitely swinging too far and missing the leg stump.”He’ll be really disappointed with that. It has clipped his toe, then clipped his pad, and then got onto the bat. But what I don’t agree with is the line of the delivery once the ball hits him on the toe … I believe the line of that delivery is going down and missing leg stump.”Similar sentiments were echoed by Clarke’s predecessor Ricky Ponting, while another former captain in Mark Taylor – until recently a member of the ICC cricket committee that has long advocated the use of the DRS and ball-tracking – offered his own criticism of the projection.However Ian Taylor, head of the New Zealand company Animation Research that provides EagleEye for Nine’s broadcast, told ESPNcricinfo that the tracking used for Marsh’s dismissal had been reviewed and not found to be in error, either in terms of the projection reached or the process used to get there.”I talked to my guys [in Perth] and we talked to the ICC and showed the process we went through, and we’re happy with it,” Taylor said. “They had a really good pitching point off the pitch, and a really good contact point on the shoe, it wasn’t on the pad. They felt confident they could extrapolate from those two points to make the prediction.”They have the choice there of saying they think there was insufficient data, but they saw it really clearly and it didn’t continue out on that line [down leg], it hit the foot right in front of middle stump. We saw the impact on the toe before anyone else did, and we saw the impact on the toe with our four cameras, and our guys confirmed it with the HotSpot guys sitting with them. That’s where the projection was made, the line from the bounce to the foot, to the stumps.”Taylor offered an open invitation to any sceptical commentators, officials or even umpires to visit the technology operators and see things for themselves – not unlike the process by which the BCCI recently approved the use of ball-tracking as part of the DRS, a system to be used in the just-begun Test series between India and England.”What surprises me is so many people can make a call straight away with just seeing the replay from the end-on view, when we’re going through four super slo-mo cameras and HotSpot,” Taylor said. “That was the process they went through. I fully respect the guys who spent their whole careers out in the middle, it’s an instinct they have and that umpires have.”We definitely don’t dismiss that and we take very seriously the views of those people. Our doors were open to all of the commentators to come down at lunchtime – we had people wait there because we thought someone might. We’ve also re-affirmed to the ICC and all the umpires as well that the door is always open, come on down and talk it through so we all learn from it.”Technology operators have advocated for some time that either the third umpire or an ICC-accredited official sit alongside those working HotSpot, EagleEye/HawkEye or other devices to provide clearer lines of accountability.”The issue for us is if we did this properly with a third umpire who was trained and there [with the technology operators], he could have made the call that my guys made,” he said. “That’s what we talk about – here’s all the information we’ve got, and you make a call whether you want us to project this on or not, because you’re an umpire.”The argument we have about a third umpire or ICC-accredited person who sits with our guys, the third umpire sitting up in the box does not know what’s going on down in our room. Who’s talking, what we’re seeing, what we’re looking at, what we’re replaying and what our thought process is. We’ve always argued if we had a fully qualified person from the ICC sitting in that room with everybody, we would go with that.”

واصل فريق بايرن ميونخ نزيف النقاط بتعادل مخيب جديد في بطولة الدوري الألماني لهذا الموسم، وذلك أمام خصمه فرايبورج.

وتلاقى الفريقان، مساء يوم الجمعة، في إطار منافسات الجولة الرابعة والعشرين من الدوري الألماني، حيث تعادلا بهدفين لمثليهما. أهداف مباراة بايرن ميونخ وفرايبورج في الدوري الألماني

تقدم فرايبورج بهدف كريستيان جونتر في الدقيقة 12 من عمر الشوط الأول، قبل أن يتمكن ماتياس تيل من تسجيل هدف التعادل للضيوف في الدقيقة 35.

وظلت النتيجة كما هي، قبل أن يتمكن جمال موسيالا من تسجيل الهدف الثاني لصالح بايرن ميونخ في الدقيقة 75.

ولكن النتيجة لم تدم لصالح بايرن ميونخ، حيث فرض فرايبورج التعادل بعدما أحرز لوكاس هولير هدفًا في الدقيقة 87.

بتلك النتيجة، حصل كل فريق على نقطة، حيث أصبح رصيد بايرن ميونخ 54 نقطة في المركز الثاني، بينما أصبح رصيد فرايبورج 30 نقطة في المركز التاسع.